vadersculptor

To be honest John I don't see that people have to take sides in all this. If people want Ainsworth's helmets and suits it's up to them and I don't see a disloyalty to me. All I'm trying to do is get the truth out there. He makes fools of people who either knowingly or unwittingly repeat his lies. I was given to understand the machine broke down - Aisworth would have you believe that it was groundbreaking stuff and he was a pioneer where clearly it was already being done in the Studios. He's continually adding and revising his story - this is from his 'discussion' page today :- "The moulds for the armour wee made from a resin amd metal dust substrate with the details planted on. The details were often made from wood, plastic or odds and ends. The vacuum forming process is quite severe on delicately constructed moulds, but as the moulds only had to last for about 50 pulls, it did not matter. Therefor along the way, when detail was disturbed and moved with the hot moulding process, or destroyed and rebuilt, a variation in finished mouldings became a common place.- but it did not matter as the overall soul of the character was always maintained" This is to answer the question posted about the distinct difference to the chest piece from the original to what he produces now. There's a little bit of embellishment from Ainsworth on the armour sculpt now I notice - he says the details were planted on the moulds - then goes on to say the details were made from wood ( well the shoulder straps, belt etc obviously were and I believe these would have been made by the carpenters at the Studios ) and then goes on to say also plastic or odds and ends - really??? He said in court that he could not use fibreglass moulds (tools) to pull on because they would not survive the heat( rubbish!!) so now he's saying that he applied plastic and odds and ends and it was fine because only 50 suits were needed This is the comparison photo that was up for discussion although Ainsworth deleted it from his Facebook page - the ogee of the chest piece was so disturbed that it turned into an arc

John I know you are very clued up on the case but just need to correct you when you say Ainsworth was given 'plaster moulds' for pulling on. I spent 4 weeks approximately on the suit. I initially sculpted the suit in clay, which was overseen by John Barry and ultimately Lucas. Once approved it was then moulded and cast in plaster and I then sharpened the detail (as with C3P0) and it was then moulded and cast in fibreglass - these were then the tools for vacuum forming. I saw a pile of suits at Elstree that were pulled by Tashy Baines - who operated the vac forming machine. This has been confirmed by several plasterers who were on the production. Although it is difficult to just take my word for it an incident happened last year involving 2 well known members of the UKG and members of this board. I was signing in a shopping centre in Harlow and a plasterer who I had not seen since the ANH production approached Gary and Billy, who were trooping in their Stormtrooper suits. He told them that he remembered seeing the pile of suits that had been pulled at Elstree without being prompted. He was directed over to the area I was signing and had absolutely no knowledge of the whole Ainsworth saga. He had to hurry away but I gave him a book to fill him in on a few facts When all the time and effort and ultimately money had been spent on producing the approved armour it makes no sense to just give Ainsworth 'carte blanche' to produce what he felt the film warranted.Let alone the fact that he doesn't have the skills to do it. He says in his statement and I quote:- Paragraph 141 " The only other materials with which I was provided were some plaster casts on sticks and with Hessian reinforcement which might have been produced from an initial construct of some sort, possibly made in clay, but I never saw any such item. These plaster parts were for the chest, abdomen and forearms. They were of no use whatever in the production of body armour parts by me" He says he was provided with the McQuarrie paintings for reference. It's amazing that he came up with exactly the same design that I had sculpted for the full armour. The back is not seen in the paintings and it was a design that was decided on during the sculpting stage but telepathically he produced the exact same design - it just beggars belief that anyone would believe him. I know my work - sculptors have individual styles and I can tell work that has been done by the small group of sculptors in the film industry back in the day. I had spent 4 weeks doing the detail, it was the first job I did on the film and the Stormtroopers used to walk around the Studios and I would have known if it wasn't the suit I had sculpted. This isn't a rant at you John it's just I thought I'd take the opportunity to add this information while correcting the plaster/fibreglass tool issue - just in case it's not generally known - there's always someone who doesn't know certain parts of the saga.

Oops - comment in post below

You're welcome - I was actually searching on the site for something else and then came across this. I'm very appreciative of the support and respect that you guys have given me and makes all this nonsense worthwhile. It's a great pleasure to be part of this community.

Thanks for posting the link I can understand that Ainsworth fooled so many people in the past as they had no proof. The court case brought all the information together from the relevant people involved. The judgement was made on all the collated information and what indeed made sense with timings, people's expertise and how the film was run. It is sad that because of the colour clay issue and the fact that Pemberton also lied under oath that credit was given to him for the clay sculpt of the helmet. I had to produce a portfolio of my work and so did Ainsworth, which incidently only showed vacuum forming - here is some of the work he showed There was NO portfolio presented by Pemberton and I knew his work - he was a scenic artist and not a sculptor. Of course with Liz unable to speak for herself, Pemberton was obviously going to claim the professionally clay helmet sculpt ( grey clay) and not the blue/grey painted one. Pemberton's blue/grey Stormtrooper helmet made with canoe helmet and component parts - then painted Liz Moore's prototype C3P0 and Stormtrooper sculpt

You really have your facts wrong regarding what AA said in his statements. He never mentioned a clay sculpt until I told the Lucas lawyer that I saw one outside the Art Dept at Elstree Studios obviously because he had NEVER seen a clay helmet - he was given the fibreglass tools to pull on. When AA was given the knowledge via my statement that a clay helmet was sculpted he then said Pemberton did it not Liz. Pemberton or his partner did a Stormtrooper helmet but the one seen in the photo - incorrectly called 'grey' clay. It is not clay it is component parts that are painted a light bluey/grey colour - you can see the paint on the wood below. If you have watched AA's video of his 'sculpting' the mould and believe it then I have doubts of your sculpting, moulding and casting knowledge. You say people don't understand but I would question your understanding. He has never been brought to task on how he supposedly 'sculpted' the moulds for the armour - although it is now irrelevant as it was proved in court that I had sculpted the armour and he was given the tools - the judge stated that Ainsworth's version of events were 'faintly absurd'. He shows how he pulls on the armour moulds but no video of 'sculpting'. He says he used himself as the dummy - I'd be interested to know how he used his so called sculpting the moulds method for the armour - did he put plasticine on himself back and front and then cover himself in iron filings, glass fibre strands and vemiculite mixture - coat himself in acetone and then let it all go off? He's shown using a scull cap for the base of his faceplate - what did he then use for the armour? It's difficult enough to listen to Ainsworth's rehashed version of events without people spreading his fabrications - and incorrectly. If you look on Facebook The Darkside of SDS aka www.originalstormtrooper.com you will see the truth - it is all verbatum from the judgement and court case. You really need to read it carefully - there was so much to wade through I can understand that you may have misread some of it but the relevant paragraphs are there. He continues to lie on his Facebook page but when the relevant paragraphs from the judgement were posted on there he deleted them. There was no abusive content in those posts just the truth from the judgement cut and pasted. Brian Muir - the original stormtrooper armour sculptor

I will be signing at Heroes Landing (Comic Shop), Clermont, Florida on Sunday 13th February 2011 between 2 and 6pm. Hope to see some of you guys there. The Makaze Squad have very kindly offered to give me an Imperial escort

If you are interested in buying a copy of my autobiography please contact me by PM or email [email protected] I'm also including a disc of some of my work over the years Brian

See you there!

I'll be signing at the 3 Darths :vader1: :vader1: :vader1: Comic Shop, Harvey Shopping Centre, Harlow, Essex on Sat 2nd October and Sun 3rd October 2010. I'm delighted that the UKG will be in attendance. I hope to see some of you guys there! Brian Muir

Happy Birthday for yesterday Paul Hope you had a good one! Brian

I am in Florida until 24th April so if anyone in the US would like a copy of the book let me know asap - at least you will save on the shipping!!! Brian

I can understand that this suit would not come cheap - it involves so much work for a 'one off'. Good to chat to you at Memorabilia, Paul - your son is a credit to you - great suit too Brian

I'm pleased you enjoyed the book, Christaan and would be more than happy to sign in California anytime soon. If the invite comes I'll let you know Brian

Thanks for the info - I've sent an email to the Florida Garrison. See you there!! Brian

Canada calls !! Our good friend who looked after Lindsay and I in Toronto over 30 years ago recently stayed with us in England.She now lives in Vancouver and has given us an open invite so maybe............ Brian

Nothing is arranged for other US locations yet but things seem to be happening fast - so here's hoping Brian

Coming to America............... Hope some of you can pop in and say 'Hello'

Thanks Tom - maybe I'll be attending a venue closer to 'somewhere between space and time' at sometime in the future Brian

I'm pleased to say I'll be attending Memorabilia at NEC, Birmingham on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th March 2010. I'll be taking some copies of my book and will be signing photos (or whatever anyone brings to be autographed). Would love to see meet some of you and happy if you just want to come and have a chat. Brian

Love the new look - great job!!! Brian

I'll be signing books and photos at the SFX Weekender, Camber Sands this Friday 5th February and Saturday 6th February. It looks to be a very lively event :headphone: - I hope to see some of you there!! Brian

It's definitely going the long way round but even airmail has been very slow. Looking at the Royal Mail information it states Surface Mail can be FROM 56 days Brian

Unfortunately surface mail is quite unpredictable but it can take several weeks. Hope you receive it soon!! Brian

Brian